Black Angel's Death Song

Taking their moniker from an experimental cut on the Velvet Underground and Nico’s 1967 debut yet pursuing an altogether different musical path, the Los Angeles indie-rock outfit Black Angel’s Death Song earned a reputation for stylistic restlessness that some found admirably broad and others simply scattered. Traces of folk, pop, punk, and noise surfaced across their catalog, seldom merging inside any single track.

The group coalesced in October 1989 when songwriting guitarists Jack Gould and Jim Miller—both veterans of the 1980s art-punk band Trash Can School—joined forces with bassist J. Francis Connors, percussionist Carol Symington, and drummer Brett Gutierrez. Several early 1990 recordings sat unreleased for more than two years; the original quintet dissolved after Gutierrez entered rehab. A rotating cast of substitute drummers followed, among them L7’s Jennifer Finch, until Lisa Nardoni replaced Symington in 1991 and gradually assumed drumming duties alongside her percussion role.

The revised four-piece issued a succession of 7-inches on small Los Angeles independents before delivering their debut long-player, Sinning With a Policy, in 1992; the compact-disc edition appended eight additional tracks, collectively titled The Brett Sessions, drawn from those 1990 tapes. Connors departed in December 1993 and was succeeded by the single-named Bianca, who appeared on the band’s sophomore effort. Fourteen songs were prepared, yet surfaced in distinct formats: Helter Skelter in Italy pressed them on vinyl as Two Girls, while the Los Angeles label Hell Yeah issued the same material on CD as Due Ragazze.

Black Angel’s Death Song disbanded in late 1994; Miller subsequently revived Trash Can School alongside his former collaborator Adam Seven. A concluding album, Super Everything, nevertheless appeared in 1996.